05 September, 2008

If press reports are to be believed, we could be on the brink of a new era in football spending that will make Abramovich’s Chelsea look positively frugal. I am of course referring to the takeover of Manchester City on Monday by an Arab consortium estimated to be worth around £650billion. Shortly after ushering Brazilian wonderkid Robinho to Eastlands, the leader of the consortium, Dr Al Fahim, revealed the group’s ultimate plans involve the creation of a Harlem Globetrotters-esque dream team. Dr Fahim told The Sun today: “We have big plans for this football club and we’ll be back to try to get him again next year,” vowing to bring more than 18 new players into the club in January, including, get this, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Kaka, Dimitar Berbatov, Fernando Torres and Cesc Fabregas.Fahim continued: “If we can get the biggest players in the world, then we will get them. Ronaldo has said he wants to play for the biggest club in the world. So we will see in January if he is serious. Real Madrid were estimating his value at £90million. But for a player like that, to actually get him, will cost a lot more. I would think £134million. But why not? We are going to be the biggest club in the world, bigger than both Real Madrid and Manchester United.”

Fahim, sickening young at just 31-year-old, is not short of a bob, but the main cash comes from a chap called Sheikh Munsoor bin Zayed al Nahyan, who has a 90 per cent stake in the consortium. There are genuinely no official estimates of Sheikh Munsoor’s wealth, it is so vast, but in quantifiable terms, he and his five brothers control the Abu Dhabi Sovereign Wealth Fund, considered to be the biggest in the world and valued at £460billion. The man nicknamed ‘The Doc’ is the personality though, also being a reality TV star back home in their version of The Apprentice, and even having his own flippant catchphrase: “Impress me!”

Not wanting to cast a dark cloud over all this, but in my head this is one of the last nails in the coffin of the Premier League. With this kind of wealth backing them, Manchester City are in a position to do literally anything they want, because ultimately everyone has a price: “Oh, you guys don't want to sell Messi? Ok, well how about we give you £500million, can you turn that down? Thought not, see you later.”